This observation may get me banned

I just need to call something out I've been consistently noticing over the last couple years about TW's eval scoring on virtually all Babolat racquets. It seems whatever Bab racquet they test, they score through the stratosphere in virtually every category compared to great frames from Head, Wilson, Prince etc...I own a few Bab frames as well as Wilson, Head and Prince and I can tell you there is one from Head and one from Wilson that simply do virtually everything a little better than either the PD or APD! I know $$ is the name of the game and that cool paint jobs, marketing and flashy players like Nadal tend to sell a lot of frames but where do you draw the line for integrity?? The real question is, how do these skewed test scores benefit TW customers?????

I've played with the Babalots, only the control oriented/unpopular Pure Storm GT seemed to have any kind of control. How do higher level players 4.5 and above play with the other Babos? Is there a control/player's racquet from them I am missing out on?

No, the real question is how would skewed test scores benefit TW? A racquet sold is a racquet sold, be it Babolat, Prince, Head.......

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Not necessarily. One company may offer greater discounts and/or marketing dollars if certain volume is reached. Also, TW may make greater margins on one brand vs. the other irrespective of volume for multiple reasons.

I'm not saying they are biasing their reviews. I'm just saying it may not be true to assume a racquet sold is a racquet sold.

No, the real question is how would skewed test scores benefit TW? A racquet sold is a racquet sold, be it Babolat, Prince, Head.......

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It's basic business. Promote your hottest/best selling item. TW is not a non-profit organization. They are in business to sell racquets, the more the better. I also don't know if you are aware but Babolat dicounts their older models very little so margin is less erroded compared to that of their competitors.

You also have to look at this. Babolat builds frames for the modern game. The Aero line and PD line are by far their best sellers and are definitely geared towards players who have play that kind of game. You also have to consider the play style of the testers. A lot of them like a lot of spin and a lot of power and that is exactly what Babolat frames produce. You can't fault the maker for producing what the public wants.

I agree with you, Wilson, Head and the other makers produce some great frames but here's my perspective on this. Wilson makes too many frames. There are just too many options that they have because they are trying to make everyone happy. They could probably pare everything down to the 6.1 line, Blade line and a few select others and up their profits tremendously. However, they sell a ton of racquets so they probably don't really care that they take losses on some since they sell a ton of others. Head is what I think of when I think classic style player frames. Prestige and Radical are their money makers and they have a few other that try to suit the new game.

Honestly, what do you expect the playtesters to say. "This racquet sucks!" Not gonna happen. It's a business and they have to promote things in a way that is conducive to keeping that business alive. So they might embellish some details while omitting others or be very selective in their choice of words about the products they sell. You cannot hold that against them.

I just need to call something out I've been consistently noticing over the last couple years about TW's eval scoring on virtually all Babolat racquets. It seems whatever Bab racquet they test, they score through the stratosphere in virtually every category compared to great frames from Head, Wilson, Prince etc...I own a few Bab frames as well as Wilson, Head and Prince and I can tell you there is one from Head and one from Wilson that simply do virtually everything a little better than either the PD or APD! I know $$ is the name of the game and that cool paint jobs, marketing and flashy players like Nadal tend to sell a lot of frames but where do you draw the line for integrity?? The real question is, how do these skewed test scores benefit TW customers?????

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Really cause i see a lot of head and wilson rackets with higher scores then majority of the babolat frames

I like their reviews because I think they are fair.
After watching most of them I kind of know what each
play tester likes and their kind of game, so I can get
a good idea of how the racket would feel like to me.

I like their reviews because I think they are fair.
After watching most of them I kind of know what each
play tester likes and their kind of game, so I can get
a good idea of how the racket would feel like to me.

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Go figure...The AS is the poorest seller of the APD, PD, PS, AS group...

I just need to call something out I've been consistently noticing over the last couple years about TW's eval scoring on virtually all Babolat racquets. It seems whatever Bab racquet they test, they score through the stratosphere in virtually every category compared to great frames from Head, Wilson, Prince etc...I own a few Bab frames as well as Wilson, Head and Prince and I can tell you there is one from Head and one from Wilson that simply do virtually everything a little better than either the PD or APD! I know $$ is the name of the game and that cool paint jobs, marketing and flashy players like Nadal tend to sell a lot of frames but where do you draw the line for integrity?? The real question is, how do these skewed test scores benefit TW customers?????

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The whole purpose of our playtesting is to give opinions that are not vendor biased. We don't push one vendor or another, but simply supply our customers with our honest opinions and information as we feel that is what they want and deserve.

So what Babo's are "player's" racquets? I might be missing out on testing something, I did play with the Storm Tour GT for a bit, but it was too muted on my serve.

I thought, perhaps naively, that the Roddick and Aero sticks were too gimmicky up with power to be player's sticks, way out of control or too light.

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The Storm line is the closest to what most players would consider a "player's frame." The PSLtd is definitely what I would call a "player's frame." I think the first thing that you really have to define for yourself is what is a "player."

TW play testers are just telling their personal opinion about a certain racquet. You may agree or disagree with them and this is 100% acceptable since we all are different. You do not like Babolat racquets, neither do I except for the pure storm series. But you will see a lot of players around your club that love Pure Drive etc.
Read the TW review knowing well that what is written is based on the opinion of 5 people and not some universal law.Even in their reviews they among themselves don't agree on everything.
To choose a racquet: read the racquet specs and other customer reviews and if possible do a demo and make your own mind.

The whole purpose of our playtesting is to give opinions that are not vendor biased. We don't push one vendor or another, but simply supply our customers with our honest opinions and information as we feel that is what they want and deserve.

Spencer, TW.

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I 100% agree with it. I find the reviews very useful. For example the opinion given on the feel of the racquet, control, spin and stability etc are decently honest. They cannot obviously say this racquet is crap in this area but they say enough to give you an Idea.

For example I was looking into Dunlop 200 lite review and was looking to buy one for doubles. The review clearly said that the stock form is not that stable at Net. Which gave me a great clue based on my need.

No racquet is total crap in all areas, if there is an advantage in one then there will be Disadvantage in another.
Babolat produces decent all round racquets, some of their technologies really work like AERO which aids spin. Pure drive and APD are clearly widely appealing one for 3 to 4.5 level players. PD will fit for any style of play.

Not necessarily. One company may offer greater discounts and/or marketing dollars if certain volume is reached. Also, TW may make greater margins on one brand vs. the other irrespective of volume for multiple reasons.

I'm not saying they are biasing their reviews. I'm just saying it may not be true to assume a racquet sold is a racquet sold.

It's basic business. Promote your hottest/best selling item. TW is not a non-profit organization. They are in business to sell racquets, the more the better. I also don't know if you are aware but Babolat dicounts their older models very little so margin is less erroded compared to that of their competitors.

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I think it is the case, they seem to review more some brands than others, many here are brainwashed and only buy what they review.

I think it is the case, they seem to review more some brands than others, many here are brainwashed and only buy what they review.

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Ditto. Any 4.0 + player would laugh you off the court for insisting a PD has the same level of control as a Prestige or Six.One or that a Prestige or Six.One posess the same artificial power as a PD. If you are lacking in strength buy a Bab but if you are already blessed with good strength and athleticism buy a control-oriented players frame regardless of the paintjob or uber-marketing campaign. The reality is, no matter who (I could be an ATP Pro) the opinion spawns from, some defensive little nerd will attack it and take it personally.

I just need to call something out I've been consistently noticing over the last couple years about TW's eval scoring on virtually all Babolat racquets. It seems whatever Bab racquet they test, they score through the stratosphere in virtually every category compared to great frames from Head, Wilson, Prince etc...I own a few Bab frames as well as Wilson, Head and Prince and I can tell you there is one from Head and one from Wilson that simply do virtually everything a little better than either the PD or APD! I know $$ is the name of the game and that cool paint jobs, marketing and flashy players like Nadal tend to sell a lot of frames but where do you draw the line for integrity?? The real question is, how do these skewed test scores benefit TW customers?????

It's basic business. Promote your hottest/best selling item. TW is not a non-profit organization. They are in business to sell racquets, the more the better.

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This is more like it.

The real question is why would TW put the brakes on one of their biggest sellers with a poor review? Trust to luck that the potential sale will drift to one of the other brands - and hopefully not purchased from a competitor, or that the uninspired buyer puts off his/her purchase indefinitely ("That new racquet isn't so great. Do I really need to switch from my current racquet? Hmmm...")? Many will still buy something from TW, but it doesn't seem like a way to optimize sales.

Ditto. Any 4.0 + player would laugh you off the court for insisting a PD has the same level of control as a Prestige or Six.One or that a Prestige or Six.One posess the same artificial power as a PD. If you are lacking in strength buy a Bab but if you are already blessed with good strength and athleticism buy a control-oriented players frame regardless of the paintjob or uber-marketing campaign. The reality is, no matter who (I could be an ATP Pro) the opinion spawns from, some defensive little nerd will attack it and take it personally.

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Yes because Na Li, Nadal, Roddick et al are not blessed with power and good strength so they must use Babolat. LOL The most ridiculous statements come out from people when they have an aversion to a particular product.

Yes because Na Li, Nadal, Roddick et al are not blessed with power and good strength so they must use Babolat. LOL The most ridiculous statements come out from people when they have an aversion to a particular product.

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Agreed. Tsonga looks weak and powerless that is why he has to play Babolat. Maybe one day he will be strong enough to use a players frame!

Meh, I'm a pretty decent level Rec player. (I play 5.0 tournaments and 4.5 league during the year,) and Babolat has consistently built some solid rackets that I've used. The Pure Storm LTD was an amazing racket for me, and it was one of the only rackets that let me play when my elbow was complaining. I'm still using Aero Storm Cortex's, and they are exactly what I need. (They are leaded up of course, but that IS what lead is made for.)

A lot of "High" level players are using them these days. It's just the way it is. I know a few 5.0+ guys that are just using stock Pure Drive's, and they are kicking my butt LOL!

So what Babo's are "player's" racquets? I might be missing out on testing something, I did play with the Storm Tour GT for a bit, but it was too muted on my serve.

I thought, perhaps naively, that the Roddick and Aero sticks were too gimmicky up with power to be player's sticks, way out of control or too light.

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How can you judge a frame having never tried it? How many majors have been collected in the past 10-15 years by players using the PS, PD or APD? (Nadal, Clijsters, Li Na, Moya, Schiavone, Stosur, etc.)

The PDR is nearly 12 oz. stock. Many people add 10-15g of lead to their standard PD or APD to boost them to right around 12 oz. They are light enough and head-light enough to customize nicely. I liked the weight and balance of the PDR but it's simply too stiff for me, even with full gut.

I've played with the Babalots, only the control oriented/unpopular Pure Storm GT seemed to have any kind of control. How do higher level players 4.5 and above play with the other Babos? Is there a control/player's racquet from them I am missing out on?

It's basic business. Promote your hottest/best selling item. TW is not a non-profit organization. They are in business to sell racquets, the more the better. I also don't know if you are aware but Babolat dicounts their older models very little so margin is less erroded compared to that of their competitors.

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I was browsing through their racquet pages today and I noticed something:

-They also update Babolat/Wilson/Head pages faster than the others, you can already see Julia Goerges on Babolat's page, Azarenka on Wilson's ... bu I don't see Wawrinka nor Bernard Tomic on Yonex racquet's page, Nalbandian isn't even on Yonex page.

-Yonex EZONE Xi racquets came out earlier than Wilson and Head's and they didn't review the ones that came out first but rather Wilson and Head first.

-Also I see TW promoting TFight 320 as Tipsarevic's racquet instead 325 which is his real racquet.

This leads me to think that they do promote some brands more than others.

How can you judge a frame having never tried it? How many majors have been collected in the past 10-15 years by players using the PS, PD or APD? (Nadal, Clijsters, Li Na, Moya, Schiavone, Stosur, etc.)

The PDR is nearly 12 oz. stock. Many people add 10-15g of lead to their standard PD or APD to boost them to right around 12 oz. They are light enough and head-light enough to customize nicely. I liked the weight and balance of the PDR but it's simply too stiff for me, even with full gut.

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I gave the wrong impression, I have "tested" all the Babos, when I said I've "played" with the pure storm as a main stick.

You know the pro sticks aren't retail, but sure, if customized I guess a Babo could be tamed.

I just need to call something out I've been consistently noticing over the last couple years about TW's eval scoring on virtually all Babolat racquets. It seems whatever Bab racquet they test, they score through the stratosphere in virtually every category compared to great frames from Head, Wilson, Prince etc...I own a few Bab frames as well as Wilson, Head and Prince and I can tell you there is one from Head and one from Wilson that simply do virtually everything a little better than either the PD or APD! I know $$ is the name of the game and that cool paint jobs, marketing and flashy players like Nadal tend to sell a lot of frames but where do you draw the line for integrity?? The real question is, how do these skewed test scores benefit TW customers?????

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Are you really that bored to troll for your own amusement? Do you go on car forums and call out Car and Driver for rating Fords high and correlating that to the amount of advertising Ford has in their magazine and point out how much better imports are? Or maybe this is more personal than that. Maybe you had your precious little ego crushed by a nerd totting a bab stick at the club when you know that in every measurable way - you were the better man. Wow, maybe you have something here... it IS kinda fun to throw baseless accusations around the interwebs!

Can you offer anything other than your own opinion as to prove bias? What about the PDR getting a score of 85 and the Prestige mid getting 86? Surely the Head is way more than 1 point better than that bab stick! Who cares if one is considered a tweener and the other is meant for a more advanced player... numbers don't lie, amirite broski?

After trying Wilson, Donnay, Wilson again and two back to back Volkl’s I tried Babolat. Best decision on tennis equipment I ever made. But it isn’t just my opinion that counts. I live close to Winston-Salem NC, home of Wake Forest University, and I have seen some excellent college level tennis there. I have observed that at almost all matches, if not all, one will see more players using Babolat’s than any other brand. Is that an accident, do college players who depend on scholarship’s use Babolat because of the paint job, as you seem to imply, or because of improved play?

It is no accident that Babolat is now one of the most popular racquets on the market, remember, 20 years ago Babolat was only a string. My personal opinion about Wilson is that they repackage essentially the same product every year with a different paint job and a few minor variants in materials, but marketing new materials and designs is what drives the sale of racquets, but who does that more egregiously than the other is a topic for another day. I just believe it is no accident that players of all skill levels have found Babolat to be the one for them.

The reason I buy from TW when I have comparable choices elsewhere is because of their useful reviews. Have you seen the reviews from their competitors? TW's reviews are about as candid as you will find from an internet retailer.

They described early PD's as having a hollow feel. They said the AST had hot spots. They APD didn't have many negative comments, but there's a reason why it's such a big seller, and it sitll didn't score as highly as some other racquets from other manufacturers.

It must be hard to be candid when your business depends on the sales of the products you review, but I think TW does it despite the pressure they probably have to do otherwise.

After trying Wilson, Donnay, Wilson again and two back to back Volkl’s I tried Babolat. Best decision on tennis equipment I ever made. But it isn’t just my opinion that counts. I live close to Winston-Salem NC, home of Wake Forest University, and I have seen some excellent college level tennis there. I have observed that at almost all matches, if not all, one will see more players using Babolat’s than any other brand. Is that an accident, do college players who depend on scholarship’s use Babolat because of the paint job, as you seem to imply, or because of improved play?

It is no accident that Babolat is now one of the most popular racquets on the market, remember, 20 years ago Babolat was only a string. My personal opinion about Wilson is that they repackage essentially the same product every year with a different paint job and a few minor variants in materials, but marketing new materials and designs is what drives the sale of racquets, but who does that more egregiously than the other is a topic for another day. I just believe it is no accident that players of all skill levels have found Babolat to be the one for them.

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Very good response with actual facts rather than so much of the bs supposition that spread throughout this thread.